Opopo: Dreaming In Binary Code chartattack.com OPOPO - Opopo (EP) Reported by: Evan Dickson All the cool kids in downtown Toronto are making crazy electro keyboard techno rock right now and blowing people's minds. We caught up with Bryan Sutherland, Craig Macgregor and Corey Poole, three culprits from the peculiarly named Opopo to get their take on the whole scenario. ChartAttack: I read that you heard the name Opopo in a dream, is that true? Bryan Sutherland: I don't know. We never figured out who actually came up with that or said that. We're still trying to figure that out. But honestly, "Opopo." We were trying to make it like a binary code using one number, one letter. Craig Macgregor: But it doesn't look the same backwards and forwards. We basically try to come up with something new [to explain our name] every time. What number would it be in binary code? BS: This process usually writes a song for us. Really? Talking about binary code? BS: Just talking about whatever. Really weird stuff. You gotta visit those places to get the material. On that subject, I've noticed you have a habit of making mysterious comments. I interviewed you for wavelengthtoronto.com a couple years ago and my first three questions were "Who are you?" "Where are you from?" and "What do you want?" I don't think I got any of that information out of your three answers. CM: We got typecast. Like, Steven Seagal breaks one neck and then that's all he does. We make one outside reference... As you get more press attention are you going to have to give more straight answers? BS: It's nice to keep [our comments] realistic so that there isn't always a big exciting image. I normally try to keep it in realistic terms. We are a rock band by roots, but electronic music is fusing with every genre and it's fusing with ours. It's kind of the result of trying to match what the sound sounds like. We try to use a language that sort of fits it. You were in a ska band in high school, right? How did you go from ska to what you play now? CM: We kicked out the drummer and the horns and we added a computer. That's pretty much it. BS: I think the computer beats pretty much started it all. We started listening to more abrasive sounds and started making different sounds. What do you do to party? BS: Well, I get the Scrabble game out… CM: We listen to old ska and reggae records. BS: Partying really did change the music. We started going to more clubs. Hearing an aggressive kick or something, just the intensity of electronic beats and the type of shows affected the music we make. The vibe of the crowd there was really influential. We wanted to try to mix that with a rock show. CM: We were going to all these clubs and hearing these amazing tracks coming out, like all the MSTRKRFT stuff and all this other stuff that we got heavily into. BS: The Ed Banger doing their thing. CM: Hearing all that and going back to a rock show, it felt like there's such a big difference, but there are still many commonalities. We wanted to use that. Corey Poole: All these crazy things would happen at the electro shows, musically. But it made us think, "Why can't this be done live?" People could be doing this sort of thing live and make it that much more exciting. It seems like in Toronto there are a bunch of new bands that are doing that kind of thing: Opopo, Woodhands, Green Go and Bocce from Waterloo. It seem like there's a scene developing. Do you feel that at all? CM: I would definitely say so, yeah. BS: There's this beat-driven thing that's happening, but people really want to get into grooves as well. There's a type of dancer out there and you can see them when they get in their zone. CM: I think the biggest thing is all those bands you described have that pop element. It's not just abrasive beats and progression. They're actually pop songs. I think what's happening isn't just rock bands deciding to be dance bands, but generally musicians getting used to these new tools that are available. BS: The fact that it is producing dance music is also something that's exciting. You can mix in a million different genres, but the fact that it's dancey is sort of the one consistent factor that everything else revolves around. I get bored now if I have to sit down or stand still at a show. It's so terribly dull. BS: It really is, no matter how good the band is. Sometimes, even if they're doing the most intricate, amazing stuff, focusing on it might just not be enough, I guess. We all just need to jump around, like our atoms are getting all antsy. CM: I blame video games for that. BS: Dance Dance Revolution has ruined our attention span. I read in your bio that your first album "told the narrative of Opopo." So what is that narrative? BS: OK, here we go. The computer menace ruptured the structure: chaos, chaos. From the menace Odoktro rewired and the clock stopped ticking like a champion. CM: That's actually a rip-off quote from a Harry Potter book. BS: J. K. Rowling's on my case! Also, Wavelength booker Ryan McLaren told me that you don't have cases for your gear and that you push it around in a shopping cart. BS: [After our show at Wavelength] he's like, "Here's the Wavelength money, go buy some cases." A piano key part had come off the MIDI synth. We were shopping-carting along from Sneaky Dee's at 2 a.m. after using up all our drink tickets. CM: We spent all our case money on beer. BS: One of the guys — I won't say who — pushed the cart right into a big puddle. Our huge brick of an amp, the bass amp, comes crashing down and the MIDI synth broke. CP: I think whenever we get money to buy cases for our gear we think, "Or we could just buy new gear." So you've really broken things in that way? BS: We've drenched a MIDI synth. We've surfed on a guitar. CM: Guitar-s. BS: That might be it. I think we've been pretty lucky, actually. CM: A fret actually fell off my bass at our first show. I don't know if that's ever happened to anybody before, but it happened to me. BS: That was at our very first show, the Wavelength, we were about to play our first song… Wavelength was your first show? BS: Yeah, we gave them that other CD, Folklore From Now Onward. We used that, but we didn't play anything from it. We gave them that and said, "OK, let's actually start a band, because we have a show." CM: I heard that's how U2 started. They played Ramones covers. BS: So when we were playing U2 covers we were really playing The Ramones? CM: I think so. BS: Remember your bass fell during the first note? The very first note of our first show and his bass falls and slams to the floor. I knew at that point it was just one of those things. CM: We knew at that point we were going to make it. It's all downhill from here.